I was in high school and my brother was in elementary school when financial turmoil hit our family. Every family has its ups and downs, and we were in the midst of a downward spiral. Our father was going through some difficult business moments. Nowadays, the phrase "living paycheck to paycheck" is used loosely, but those days, we could really see how that affected our lives. It was a baptism into real world issues and problems. Our mother made sure that my brother and I understood the value of money. There was no way we would spend anything more than required. We wouldn't even ask for something that was out of the norm. We knew what was within our means and what wasn't.
But there was one thing that our parents never compromised. Education and anything related to education. Be it for special courses, sending us to tuitions, or buying books. Our mother was always the go to person if we wanted something, since our father was busy trying to sustain the family.
With books, we have never seen her say, "No, it's not required. Are you sure you want to buy it?" She always felt that we could make the best possible decision when it came to academics. I was in the ICSE medium, which meant there was no one standard text book per subject. There were always new books, new question banks and new materials.
"Amma, there is this new question bank in Mathematics authored by Sultanchand. People are saying it's good." I remember that the prescribed text book for Mathematics was authored by OP Sinhal. Anybody who has studied in ICSE will know the importance of OP Sinhal.
"If you think it's good, go get it."
The judgement was left to us to figure out whether a book was required or not. That's the level of trust that was bestowed on us when we were in school.
I've always felt that there are two things for which a person cannot cheat. One is learning and the other is hunger. A person can never eat more than he can. You can eat all you want but at some point, you just won't be able to increase the intake. There is a cap. But, with learning, the quest is always there. You will buy a book only if you want to get something out of it. A person who is never interested in reading will never buy a book (however inexpensive the book is). Forget buying a book, he would not read it even if available for free. It's a different matter that today, my Kindle always houses a few books that I have never read. But, the thought is always there that I'll get to them someday.
So, when I look back on my growing up days, one thing that really stands out is the amount of money I have spent for the text books. For the good or bad, I always had the fear of missing out if I didn't have a particular book.
In spite of all the hardships at home, the one thing that remained constant was there could be no compromise in education. That was just unacceptable.
Our mother used to tell us, "Education is the only thing that's going to define the rest of your life. So, make sure you don't take it easy. There are poor children who are struggling to buy books. We are providing you with everything we can. I don't want to hear that your education is affected because of our financial instability."
Today, it's very easy to trivialize education. It doesn't matter in which college you did your Engineering or Master's, ultimately it's all the same is the general consensus. But, at every stage in life, you have to get past certain challenges and achieve the best you can. That's the only thing that would differentiate the best from the good. The trait of successful people is not about going to the best college or receiving the best education, but it's about maximizing the opportunities in the best possible way.
In that way, our mother did not receive the best education in life, but she made sure that as long as she had the control to run the family, she would do it in the best possible way making sure that she left no stone unturned, so that her kids would be in a position to maximize their opportunities in life.
At the end of the day, everyone is successful in his own way. Whether we realize or not, education is a precious gift.
But there was one thing that our parents never compromised. Education and anything related to education. Be it for special courses, sending us to tuitions, or buying books. Our mother was always the go to person if we wanted something, since our father was busy trying to sustain the family.
With books, we have never seen her say, "No, it's not required. Are you sure you want to buy it?" She always felt that we could make the best possible decision when it came to academics. I was in the ICSE medium, which meant there was no one standard text book per subject. There were always new books, new question banks and new materials.
"Amma, there is this new question bank in Mathematics authored by Sultanchand. People are saying it's good." I remember that the prescribed text book for Mathematics was authored by OP Sinhal. Anybody who has studied in ICSE will know the importance of OP Sinhal.
"If you think it's good, go get it."
The judgement was left to us to figure out whether a book was required or not. That's the level of trust that was bestowed on us when we were in school.
I've always felt that there are two things for which a person cannot cheat. One is learning and the other is hunger. A person can never eat more than he can. You can eat all you want but at some point, you just won't be able to increase the intake. There is a cap. But, with learning, the quest is always there. You will buy a book only if you want to get something out of it. A person who is never interested in reading will never buy a book (however inexpensive the book is). Forget buying a book, he would not read it even if available for free. It's a different matter that today, my Kindle always houses a few books that I have never read. But, the thought is always there that I'll get to them someday.
So, when I look back on my growing up days, one thing that really stands out is the amount of money I have spent for the text books. For the good or bad, I always had the fear of missing out if I didn't have a particular book.
In spite of all the hardships at home, the one thing that remained constant was there could be no compromise in education. That was just unacceptable.
Our mother used to tell us, "Education is the only thing that's going to define the rest of your life. So, make sure you don't take it easy. There are poor children who are struggling to buy books. We are providing you with everything we can. I don't want to hear that your education is affected because of our financial instability."
Today, it's very easy to trivialize education. It doesn't matter in which college you did your Engineering or Master's, ultimately it's all the same is the general consensus. But, at every stage in life, you have to get past certain challenges and achieve the best you can. That's the only thing that would differentiate the best from the good. The trait of successful people is not about going to the best college or receiving the best education, but it's about maximizing the opportunities in the best possible way.
In that way, our mother did not receive the best education in life, but she made sure that as long as she had the control to run the family, she would do it in the best possible way making sure that she left no stone unturned, so that her kids would be in a position to maximize their opportunities in life.
At the end of the day, everyone is successful in his own way. Whether we realize or not, education is a precious gift.
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